The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-02-10
DR. TALMAGES SERMON.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE'S
SUNDAY SERMON.

TEXT; "He made his arro,os briy',, 10
consulted wiih images, he looked IN to
liper"-Ezekiel Xxx, 81.
Two modes OF divination by which the
King of Babylon proposed to lind out the
will OF God. lIe took bundle Of arrows,
put them together, mixed them no, then
pulled forth one, and by the inscription on
II decided what city hc should first assault.
Then an animal was slain, and by the lighter
or darker color Of tho liver, tho brighter or
darker prospect Of success was inferred. That
Is the meaning Of the text: HE made his
arrows bright he consulted with images, no
locked in the liver"
been filled with decisions, 1t seems as if the
world loves to be hoodwinked, the delusion
Of tie text only u specimen of vast number
Of deceits practiced upon the human race. In
tho latter part Of the last century Johanna
Southcote camo forth, pretending to have
divine power, made prophecies, had chapels
built In her honor, and one hundred
disciples came forth to follow her. About
five years before the birth of Christ,
Al ollonius was born, and he came forth,
aud after five years being SPECIFIES accord
ing to the tradition, hc healed tho sick and
raised the dead, and preached virtue, and,
according to the myth, having deceased, was
brought to resurrection!
The Despite Oracle deceived vast multi.
tnles Of people; tho Pythoness seated in the
Temple of Apollo uttering q crazy jargon
from which the people guessed their indi-
vidGal or national fortunes or misfortunes.
The utterances were Of such a nature that
you could read them any way You wanted
TO read them. A General going forth to bat
lie, consulted the Delphic Oracle, and he
wanted to find out whether he was going to
be safe in the battle or killed in the battle,
and the answer came forth from the Dephic
Oracle in such words that. il you put tho
comma before tho word "never," It means
one thing, aud il you put the comma after
The word never it means another thing,
lust opposite, The message from tho
Dephic Oracle to the General was: $50
forth, return never in battle shalt
thou perish" If he was killed, that
was according to the Delphic Oracle;
if he came homo safely, that was according
to the Delphic Oracle So the ancient augur-
les deceived the people. The priests Of those
tonation of thunder, or by the inside appear
ance Ct slain animals, told the fortunes or
misfortuues of individuals or nations. The
Sbyls deceived the people. The sibyls were
supposed to be inspired by women who lived
IN caves and wrote tho Sibylline books after
ward purchased by Tarqun the Proud. So
ate as the year lS29, "A man arose in New York,
pretending TO be a divine being, and playing
his part so well that wealthy merchants b.
came his disciples and threw their fortunes
into his disripleshp. And so in all ages,
there have been nscromancies, incantations,
withcrafts sorceries, magical arts, enchant-
ncntS, divinations and delu sions. The one
of tho text was only specimen of that
which has been transpiring in all ages of the
world. None of these delusions accom-.
plished any good, They deceived, they
pnuperized the people, they wore as cruel as
hey were absurd They opened no hospitals,
they healed no wounds, they wiped away no
tears, they emancipated no serfdom.
But there are those who say that all these
decisions combined are as nothing compared
with the delusion now abroad in the world,
the deluson of the Christian religion. That
delusion has to-day over four hundred mil
lion dupes 1t proposes to encirt lie the earth
with its girdle. That which has been called
delusion has already overshadowed the
Appa 'achian range on this side the sea, and
1t has overshadowed the Balkan and Cau-
casan ranges on the other side of the sen. 1t
has conquered England and the United
States. This champion deluson, this hoax,
| this swindle of the ages as it has been called,
| has gone forth to conquer the islands of the
Pacific: the Melanasia and the Micronesia
and Malayan Polynesia have al eady
surrendered II the delusiou. Yea, it has
conquered the Ind an Archipe ago, and Bor-
fallen under It's wles. In the FL Islands,
where there IRE 22o,o 900 people, 10000 have
already bee ONE the dupes of this Christian
religion, and if things 60 on as they are now
going on, and if the Influence OF this great
hallucination of the ages cannot be stopped,
1t will swallow the globe. Surprising, then,
that Christianity Is the delusicn of the centu-
ries, as some have pronounced it. l propose
his morning to show you what has been ac-
! complished by this chmera, this fallacy, this
hoax, this swindle of the ages.
And in the first place, | remark, that this
delus on of the Christian religion has made
wonderful t'ansformationS of human char-
acter. will go down the aisle of any church
in Christendom, and l will find on either side
that aisle these who were once prohigate
! profane, unclean of speech and unclean OF
action drunken and lost But by tho power
of this delusion OF the Christian religion they
have been complet -ly transformed, and now
they are kind and amiable and GENIAL and
loving and useful Everybody sees the
cination they have quit their former asso-
ciates, and whereas they once found their
chief delight among these who gambled
and swore and raced horses, now they find
their chief Joy among those who go to PRAYER
meetings and churches; so complete is the de.
fusion. Yea, their own families have noticed
1.-THE wife has noticed it, the children have
noticed The money that went for rum now
goes for books and for clothes and for Q luca
tion. He is new man All who know him
say there has been wonderful change.
What is the cause of this change' This great
Authorization of the Christian religion There
is as much difference between whathe is now
and what he once was, as between rose and
q nettle, as between dove and vulture
as between day and night. Tremendous de-
fusion!
Admiral Farracut, one of the most ed
mired men of the American navy, ea"ly
became victim of this Christian deusion
and, seated, not long before his death, al
Long Branch, he was giving some friends at
account of his early life. He said: my
father went down in behalf Of tho Unite
States Government to put an end to Aaron
Burr's rebellion. 1 was cabin boy anc
went along W til him. l could swear like al
old salt could gamble in every style o.
gambling. knew all the wickedness Their,
was at that time abroad. One day my fathe
cleared everybody out of the cabin excen
myself and locked the door. He said
David, what are you going to do, Wha
said, father, I am going to follow
the sea- Follow the sea- and be poor
miserable drunken sailor, kicked and cuffeC
abont the world and die Of fever in foreign
hospital' oh! no. I said, father, WI
not he that; will tread the quarterback am
sald; no, David, rerson that has you
principles and your bad hab is will netc
tread the quarterback or command NJ,
father went out and shut the do II after him
and said then: Il will change, will neve
swear again. will never drink again, l will
never gamble again; and, gentlemen, by tn
help of God have kept those three VOWS II
.4.s siM, J soon after that became Chris
rau, anG that decided my fate for time ant
| sceraitv."
another captive OF this great Christian
lielusioni There goes Saul of Tarsus OF
horseback at full gallop Where is he go
irg To destroy Christians. He wants NJ
batter p'ayspell than to stand and watch tn,
iats and coats Of the murderers who ar
oiassacring Gods children. There goes tn,
zane man. This time he is afoot Wher
is he going nowl Going on the road t,
Ostia to die for Christ They tried to Will
it out of him. they tried to scare it out o
him, they thought thew would give hin
enough of it by putting him into window
less dungeon, and keeping him on small
diet, and denying him a cloak, an
condemning him as criminal, an,
bowling at him through the street: but the
could not freeze it out OF him. and they coul
not sweat it out OF him, and they could no
pound it out of him. so they tried the Sill
gerry of the sword and one summer day in tn
year 6j he was derantated Perhaps Tn
mightiest intellect OF the 5000 years of tn